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High Tension (Unrated Widescreen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Alexandre Aja
Actors: Cécile De France, Maïwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon, Franck Khalfoun, Andrei Finti
Studio: Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $1.90
You Save: $13.08 (87%)
New (56) Used (66) from $1.90
Rating:  279 reviews
Sales Rank: 13517
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Italian (Original Language), English (Subtitled), English (Dubbed)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 91 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: LGED18353D
UPC: 031398183532
EAN: 0031398183532
ASIN: B000ARFPMQ
Theatrical Release Date: June 10, 2005
Release Date: October 11, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Former rental with center label and minimal rotations. Boxart in great shape also
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Product Description
Marie & alexia are classmates & best friends. To prepare for college exams in peace & quiet they decide to spend a weekend at alexias parents secluded farmhouse. In the dead of night a stranger knocks on the door. With the 1st swing of his knife the girls idyllic weekend turns into an endless night of horror Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 05/23/2006 Rating: Ur
Amazon.com
Home to some of the world's best food and fashion, the French also have the wonderful habit of producing some of the world's best movies. With High Tension, French director Alexandre Aja offers up a bloody buffet of terror; a violent concoction of style over substance, with a bloody French twist. Two college girlfriends, Maria and Alex, take a weekend to study at the secluded country home of Alex's parents. Shortly after their arrival, a mysterious killer appears, and things take a shockingly terrible turn for the worse. As the horror and body count rises, Maria and Alex find themselves fighting for their lives, and it's revealed that things are not exactly as they seem. Essentially a one-act cat-and-mouse affair, High Tension is an explosive bloody thrill ride that rarely lets up. Oozing style in every color-saturated frame and boasting some intense performances, Aja mainly succeeds in sustaining an intense momentum throughout the film. The plot occasionally suffers from a thin, flimsy storyline, and the abundant graphic scenes of violence will either thrill and delight, or simply disgust. Nonetheless, this adrenalin-fueled addition to the genre gives the American slasher flick a real run for its money. High Tension is high-art horror, and comes highly recommended. --Matt Wold
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| Customer Reviews: Read 274 more reviews...
 Good, Yet Confusing... December 18, 2008
C. Sarver
This was a good film. Although it had subtilted moments, other times the movie was in english, but you could tell they were speaking french. It kicked up my OCD a bit. If they came out with an english version today, I would go see it in a heart beat. The movie itself is incredible. The story was well thought out. Although I was really confused by the story to be honest. The ending didnt really make sense and had me thinking for a really long time how it came to be. Im still thinking today how everything happened. But, I guess it is just a movie. Good sick flick, I recommend it.
Tense & scary November 12, 2008
S J Buck (Kent, UK)
This is a good modern horror film that acknowledges its roots, but manages to be original enough to warrant merit in its own right. Psycho is the oldest influence, although this only becomes apparent in the latter part of the film. Clearly Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have been an influence as well.
Two young women go to visit one of their sets of parents at a remote farmhouse. Once night falls all hell breaks loose. There are one or two clues to the big twist that will occur later in the film, but I didn't spot them at the time and it was only after the film finished that I realised what they meant.
The director of this film clearly understands how to build tension. I suspect that he has watched all of Hitchcocks finest movies. Given the freedom to use such explicit violence this is the sort of film that Hitchcock might have been making today if he had been born 40 years later. Except of course it would have been better.
I watched this for the first time shortly after seeing Wolf Creek for the first time. For me Wolf Creek just gets the nod because its slightly less derivative. Nevertheless Switchblade Romance is well worth seeing, if you're not easily scared and films don't give you nightmares!
French or nothing at all November 6, 2008
Robin Solsjö Höglund (Skellefteå, Sweden)
Let it be the unrated version in the original French language, or I see no point in watching this movie. I urge you to see it as intended, at least give it a chance, because the combination of dubbing and censorship makes a film like this into a completely different and virtually castrated entity. I can't stress this enough - see it unrated. See it in French.
Now that I've gotten that through, I'll say I really enjoyed High Tension (or Haute Tension, or Switchblade Romance or whatever the heck you want to call it). It is undoubtedly similar to "Intensity", but with a stronger ending that really does it for me. I like to accept films for what they are, and that's usually no matter how they play out. Without giving anything away here, I don't care about logical inconsistensies, it's the way it's presented that matters.
Three things alone made the film memorable - the violence and gore (Alexandre Aja used it equally effectively in the remake of The Hills Have Eyes), the twist ending (which, even though I knew it was coming, worked and stays interesting) and the use of Muse on the soundtrack. I wouldn't usually recommend regular songs on a soundtrack, especially not in key moments, but because it is Muse, with their distinctive sound, since it's not an American film (perhaps), and also the odd but haunting final scene of the film, it sticks with you. High Tension is on my mind all the time, it's a movie that's very hard to shake. I can't define just what it is, but it stands out because you feel for the characters in both good and bad ways. It leaves you with an image of double meaning, something so simple but so different. In a sense Aja's found the greatest kind of filmmaking there is.
Thinking about its impact alone, I raised my initial rating. I may update this review after I've checked out the whole DVD though.
 Not bad, not great October 13, 2008
Morgan C. S. (CA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Well, first and most obvious is the poor dubbing of this movie. It's a french film with english voiced over. But... only some parts were voiced, and the rest (almost half) remains in french. There weren't even subtitles. I found this distracting me from the plot, since I didn't know what they were communicating.
Many people complain about the plot twist at the end, but I don't think it really damages the story. The plot twist makes sense given the context (a story is being told). The story is almost like a psychological mystery for the audience once the plot twist takes place. I liked it.
Aside from the plot twist, the rest of the story was a decent slasher film - filled with exciting visuals, cool effects, and scary situations. The characters behaviors were rather ridiculous though. In context of the plot twist it seems reasonable, BUT this is no excuse to give the audience unrealistic action. This being the core of the film, I wasn't thrilled.
Bad dubbing, poor realism, but decent slasher material, and a cool twist. Very much worth a rent.
French should leave the horror to the Asians October 4, 2008
AnimeGod981 (B!zarro W()rld)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It appears this horror/thriller flick is a fan favorite here. I gotta disagree. It had potential Ill give it that. Some parts were well done- sure. In fact it wasn't bad either. But the twist ending had me asking so many questions like "how is that even possible" . The ending ruined the realism which brings any horror movie to life. Just thinking this could totaly happen adds to the thrills.
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